Riding the Hyrule Warrior story news, I just had to write this story. A confirmed Zelda love triangle between Zelda, Link, and Cia (like that localized name way better than Shia, btw)? Yes please! Anyway, it's slightly AU, and I'm definitely taking some elements of my own, but it's mostly based off of Hyrule Warriors as we know it right now. Also, I'm bringing things from Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, and Twilight Princess. A few notable change: Zelda is not kidnapped and Impa won't be featured much, if at all.

I'd love some feedback, by the way! I'm terrible at writing, so all comments are accepted. Also, I'd love to answer your questions about the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda.

Enjoy!

Chapter One

"Geez, all these patrols are wearing me down," commented Link, taking a huge gulp of his Lon Lon Milk as he did yet another round of Hyrule Field. It was all because of the war. Cia, formerly dedicated to ensuring the equilibrium of the Triforce, was for some reason corrupted and started an uprising, using monsters like the Lizalfos and the Bokoblin as soldiers in her army. It was a shame, really. As far as Link remembered, she was a kind lady. He'd say hello to her as he did his duty as a guard for Hyrule Castle, and they had a nice little acquaintanceship.

Then she killed the head guard in cold blood, her white robes transforming into armor as the guard's blood dripped onto her horrifically risque outfit. Seeing your seemingly unstoppable boss lying in a pool of his own blood at the hands of an innocent looking lady wasn't a sight you'd normally see. A second later, she'd disappeared, and a day later, she declared war. And since they were short a Guard Captain - and since he happened to have the Triforce of Courage - he became Captain.

And it was making him exhausted.

It took a glass of good Lon Lon Milk and a tranquil starry night to get him to unwind, and luckily, he had one that night. For some reason, the night sky was soothing to him. Maybe it was that the sky reminded him that there were things bigger than himself. It could also just be the beauty of the twinkling light. That beauty was cut short when a groan of pain reached Link's ears.

He whipped around to see that the feminine moan came from behind the tree that was close to Kakariko Village's entrance. Concerned, he quickly ran to the tree and took a look behind it. The girl was wounded, with large chunks of purple shrapnel lying around her. A big gash on her midriff had blood seeping out, and her lack of clothing put more emphasis on her cut. Link was up and ready to bring her to his home in Kakariko and heal her… till he saw her face. Then all he did was draw his sword and bring the tip to her neck.

It was Cia. The maskless Cia from before. The one that was deceptively sweet. The one who started this whole mess. Link wanted to do so many things; he wanted to question her, he wanted to shove the repercussions of her little war in her face, and he wanted her to suffer for her sins. Oh, he really wanted to. And the fact that her eyes opened and a small gasp escaped her lips didn't change that fact. Noticing the blade of a soldier under her chin, she followed the length till her eyes met Link's. Then she started to laugh, quietly at first, then as loud as a maniac. Her nefarious cackle was halted as Link applied a bit more pressure with his sword, just enough to keep her from bleeding. Cia smiled and said, "Oh, it's you, Link. It's a pleasure seeing you again."

"I'm afraid I can't say the same to you, Cia," replied Link, making sure to stay on alert. "Now, I'm afraid that your time is up."

"Oh, I suppose that's true. Even if you weren't going to slit my throat, the cut in my side is just too deep. I'd die anyway," sighed Cia, as if talking to him about her death was some boring chore. As she spoke about her cut, she traced her finger around it, coating her fingertip in crimson red. She then slid her fingers along the length of Link's blade, a red line appearing on the flat. "To think that out of all the people I would see before I die, it would be you. Oh my, the goddesses are cruel. At least I'll go out with a nice view. Goodbye, Link."

She then blacked out.

XOXOXOX

"Nghh," groaned Cia, waking up from her impromptu nap. There were a few things she noticed that were out-of-place. First, she was in an unfamiliar house. The ceiling, flooring, and walls were made out of wood. Very different from her mostly stone castle that she had lived in for a few days. A wood vanity was right in front of the bed, which cast a reflection of the whole bed, which led her to her second point. She was strapped to the bed, held down by firm leather straps on her ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. Cia tugged and tugged, but her restraints just didn't budge. She was also dressed in a dress shirt and shorts that were far too big for her. Cia was slightly worried, but wasn't too anxious. Her wound was healed, so there was nothing that could stop her from using her magic to escape and kill her kidnapper-

She can't use her magic!

"Morning, Cia." She whipped her head towards the masculine voice of her captor. Green tunic. Blue scarf. Sharp eyes. It was Link. She was in his house, trapped on his bed wearing what had to be his clothes. While she'd love to be a guest in his house, it definitely wasn't the best of circumstances. She watched as Link took a sip of his milk, his eyes never leaving her as he circled the bed like a shark. "Hope you enjoyed your nap."

"Now that you mention it, I have to say that it was great. Not being able to use magic, on the other hand, was not," Cia replied coldly, glaring back at the dashing hero.

In response, Link smirked, taking another sip of his drink. He was enjoying this way too much. To have the head of the enemy army captured was perfect for ending the war. They'd show off the wicked witch in chains, and the generals would surrender because of their captured leader: it would be easy. Then, Link and everyone could go back to their old lives, with the rebels rotting in the dungeons. All Link had to do was bring her to Princess Zelda and have her deal with Cia. "You'll be complaining about more than that after we use you to force a surrender and lock you in jail, and we'll be keeping that anti-magic collar on you during your stay."

Instead of acting scared or agitated, Cia laughed. Maniacally. Like he had just told a hilarious joke. Noticing the annoyed look on Link's face, she supplied, "Why would they surrender because of someone they betrayed, you silly guard?"

"W-What!?" exclaimed Link, nearly dropping his glass out of surprise. After thinking about it for a bit, that explained why she was found nearly dead with shattered shards of shrapnel - her armor - on the ground. They must have brought her to that spot while guards were about to take shifts and nearly killed her. Still, it was very ludicrous. The only one able to rally more troops for the enemy side was Cia, and if they killed her, they might as well surrender to the Hylian forces. "Why should I believe you?"

"Why would I leave myself for dead where almost no one would find me? Even if they did, whoever would find me would probably just finish the job. Both sides hate me right now, Link, and I have nowhere else to go," Cia said, sighing. Link could practically hear the melancholy in her voice, and he felt inclined to paying close attention to what she said. He then noticed that her natural charisma, probably enhanced by her voluptuous figure and enticing voice, was extremely effective. It was no wonder how she was able to recruit Lizalfos after Lizalfos for her army. "Hey, Link. Do you know what I want more than anything?"

"What?" he asked, deciding to humor her. The smile she wore after made Link regret that decision.

"Revenge."

"...Revenge? On who?"

"On my old comrades. On my old troops. On Hyrule. On Zelda. On you." Cia tilted her head up as she talked, her sharp gray eyes causing jolts to travel up Link's spine. It was like she could stare into his soul, as cliché as it sounded. He quickly averted his eyes. Anyway, why would she want revenge on Link? What did he do to her? He didn't know. One day she was just another face in the castle, the next she was the head of the enemy forces. Maybe she was just angry at him for leading the Hylian forces. Link was interrupted from his thoughts when Cia continued, "Link, please help me. You're the only one I can count on. The only one on my side."

"I'm sorry, Cia. I'm afraid I can't let you do that," replied Link, just as the sound of the alarm bells rang throughout Kakariko Village. Link instantly tensed up. He quickly gathered up his sword and shield, slapping the green cap onto the top of his head. He checked his person to see if anything was missing. His assortment of weaponry seemed to be complete, but his pockets seemed to be a little too light. Still, he didn't have time to ponder on that. The bells signalled that enemy forces were approaching. "I'll be going now. Just hang around here, and I'll bring you to a nice warm jail cell when this battle's over."

"Wait, Link! I'm coming with you! I must make those former generals of mine suffer!" cried Cia, struggling against her bonds.

Link just looked at her and shook his head. He turned around and headed out the door, not seeing the psychotic smile plastered on her innocent-looking face.

XOXOXOX

Link rushed out of Kakariko Village and onto a bloody battlefield. From his view on a hill, he could see Hylian soldiers pour out of the gate, rushing to meet arachnid forces. They clashed in the middle of Hyrule Field, the front lines settling right in front of poor Lon Lon Ranch. Link, staring at the chaos in front of him, decided to try to take out the general to resolve the fight as quickly as possible, because without the presence of a general, the enemy forces would be forced to withdraw.

It was a massacre. The monsters - mono-eyed spiders all the size of an endtable - were ripping through Link's men. As he ran through the field, he saw Hylians fall left and right. Link saw a man, pinned down by his limbs as the spider bared its fangs to plunge them into the man's neck. Link quickly vaulted, raising up his sword and swinging it down in an arc when he reached the spider. It cut cleanly into the monster, slicing it into two, green ooze dripping down the blade's length. Helping up the soldier, Link asked, "Has the enemy general been spotted?"

"Y-Yessir!" responded the shaken up man, saluting. "General Mago is straight ahead! B-But please be careful, Sir. Her mace has slain many a soldier." Link, deciding to see things for himself, pulled out his Bow and put on his Hawkeye, zooming in on a humanoid figure standing alongside her arachnid brethren.

She was swinging her mace like a lunatic, indiscriminately flinging aside spiders and humans like ragdolls. As a blade came to stab her from behind, she sidestepped without skipping a beat, like she had eyes on her neck. Looking closer, he saw dark dots on her neck: so she did have eyes on her neck. Luckily, her eyes couldn't cover all the chinks in her armor. In fact, there wasn't that much armor: just a metal equivalent of a bra and a chainmail skirt. It seemed that Evil Cia's fashion sense was shared amongst her former subordinates.

Just as General Mago whipped around to slay another human, Link fired an arrow, seeking her very exposed midriff. Somehow sensing danger, she let the momentum of her swing move her away from Link's bolt while bludgeoning the soldier at the same time. The poor man flew skyward, blood spurting out of his wounded chest. Link gritted his teeth, pocketing both his bow and his Hawkeye and drawing his blade, running towards the general and cutting down whatever spider stood in his way with each stroke of his blade.

"General Mago!" exclaimed Link, leaping at the general and swinging down his blade. His sword met her mace. Rebuffed, he quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding her return attack. He jumped back, putting a bit of space between them. The masked general smiled. Link didn't return it. After a brief moment, it was back to the clash, as Link aimed to cleave her in two from her left shoulder to the right side of her hip. She slipped under Link's strike so quickly that she left an after image, and she swung her mace upwards diagonally, trying to pound his ribcage. Link grunted, blocking the heavy smash of the mace. Once again, Link jumped back and separated in an attempt to read the situation.

"A heavy weapon and a light woman. What a combination," commented Link to himself. Those two attributes were what made up her style. She was quick on her feet, which made her able to dodge even with a heavy weapon and angle said weapon any which way she desired. Her weapon, on the other hand, would deliver a solid blow, so it would only take one hit to kill. Plus, she could use its weight to reposition, since its inertia would influence her's. Now, how to deal with it…

"What's wrong, Hero? Afraid of a little bite?" joked Mago. Link didn't bother with a verbal reply. Instead, he raised his bloodstained sword yet again and flew at her, arm held back to deliver a quick stab to the general. In response, she sidestepped and swung horizontally, planning to catch Link's legs while he was in mid-stab.

Too bad it was a feint.

Instead of stabbing in front of him, he stabbed his sword to the ground, reinforcing the flat with his shoulder. The mace then slammed into the sword, stopping the blow completely. Taking advantage of the momentary surprise, Link went in and bashed his shield hard against Mago's skull, knocking her to the ground with a harsh thud. The Hylian general panted, exhausted, as he examined his fallen opponent. Her helmet had fallen off when Link smacked the consciousness out of her, revealing her long black hair and bloody forehead. Probably a concussion. There was no way she'd be fighting in the battle anymore. "Hm… if she stays that way, then maybe I don't have to kill her. I think the jail cell beside Cia's would be a nice new home for- gwah!"

"Don't underestimate me!" cried the female general, knocking down the Hylian with a nicely placed kick to the stomach. Before Link could get up, he found his wrists and ankles bound to the ground by white strands of… web. Link looked up, noticing his bloodied opponent and the webbing coming out of her wrists. He struggled against his bonds, but they just wouldn't budge. He could only watch as she straddled him, her mouth way too close to his neck for comfort. "Mhm… All those other soldiers had such a weak aroma to them, but you seem so much stronger than all of them combined. I wonder if you taste as good as you smell, hehehe."

Right before she plunged her fangs into Link, she rolled off of him, narrowly avoiding getting fried by a fireball as it soared over Link's body, setting the strands of webbing aflame and causing smoke to rise all around him. Coughing, Link stood up, massaging his sore wrists as he tried to see through the smoke. Slowly, the smoke died down, revealing a well-endowed woman wearing a dress shirt and shorts wielding… Link's Fire Rod!?

Cia smiled, wearing her signature manic expression, and said, "Link, when I told you that I was going to go with you, I wasn't asking: I was informing you. Now that we're together, we're together till the end, Link. I'll make sure of that."

"C-Commander Cia!" Mago stood aghast, clutching her scorched side. The expression on her face was utter shock, disbelief that the leader that they had tried to kill was alive in front of her. She slowly backed away, shivering out of fear. All Cia did in response was laugh and walk towards her, the fear in Mago's eyes growing. "I-I thought you were-"

"Dead? Oh, I won't let that happen, dear Mago, till I get what I want." Cia suddenly stopped walking, causing a little relief to softer Mago's expression a little. Cia didn't like that, pointing the Fire Rod at Mago. "And this is what I want. Goodbye, Mago."

The cries of the general could be heard all throughout Hyrule.